Sitting astride an e-bike wrapped in purple gaffer tape, Gustavo Ajche grabs the phone from his raincoat pocket and pulls up the Grubhub app as raindrops pool on the screen. It's a gloomy Saturday afternoon in New York City. After a long week working two jobs, Ajche says, ordinarily he might go home; he's done delivery for the apps long enough to know when it's sensible to call it a day. But I'm here to learn the economics of delivery work, so Ajche holds out his phone: This order is offering $13. Should he take it?
Ajche, who is 40, is the most visible spokesperson and organizer for Los Deliveristas Unidos, a campaign started in 2020 by appbased delivery workers to fight for safety protections and wages befitting their status as essential workers of the pandemic. On one level, their complaints are those of gig workers everywhere-a lack of transparency from their Silicon Valley employers, "flexible" jobs better understood as precarious ones. Yet the constraints of working in New York mean that deliveristas in Manhattan have little in common with Uber Eats drivers in Dallas or St. Louis. Unmanageable traffic, narrow roads, and a high premium on convenience have turned New York City delivery workers into the nation's largest two-wheeled workforce. According to a city government estimate, nearly half of the 60,000-plus people working full-time or part-time shepherding takeout for the apps get around on e-bikes, accounting for the lion's share of deliveries. One way to understand their fight for fair jobs is as a critique of a modern American city from behind the handlebars.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2024-utgaven av Bicycling US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
GETTING A FLAT CAN MAKE YOUR RIDE BETTER
ON A BEAUTIFUL LATE-SUMMER RIDE UNDER a cerulean blue sky, I got my second flat in three days.
THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY BIKES TO CHOOSE FROM
\"PERFECTION IS ACHIEVED, NOT WHEN there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.\"
THE CASE AGAINST STRAVA
I'LL BEGIN BY SINGING SOME PRAISES: Without Strava, I'm not sure I'd have re-engaged with cycling at the level I did. Coming from just occasionally messing around on mountain bikes as a teenager to trying my best to race at an elite level, Strava has played a role in pushing me to PR, hunt KOMS, and ride faster and harder than ever before.
LOOKING FOR CYCLING'S CAITLIN CLARK
WOMEN'S PRO CYCLING MUST FOSTER A COMMUNITY THAT WILL FEEL INVESTED IN THE SPORT FOR YEARS TO COME.
THE UPSIDE OF GETTING YOUR CAR STOLEN
AFTER I PARKED AT THE LAFAYETTE COLLEGE track for my workout, I did what I always do: I put my phone and wallet in the center console of my car and took the car key off the ring so I could fit it into the tiny pocket inside my running shorts.
UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF CYCLING'S SUPER AGERS
MEET THE SWEDISH SENIORS WHO PROVE YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD TO RIDE HARD.
BIKE PACKING AMERICA'S LONGEST MULTIUSE TRAIL NETWORK
Even the slightest rain can sound thunderous inside a tent--and this was not slight rain. It came down in buckets, just as my partner Maggie and I were settling into our sleeping bags.
TWICE AS GOOD
WHY A DISCO-BALLINSPIRED DOUBLE UNICYCLE MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT BIKES OF THE YEAR
THE ALCHE MISTS
They led a cycling revolution in Afghanistan where women were forbidden to ride. When the Taliban returned to power, their only hope was a harrowing escape to an uncertain future.
COUNTDOWN - TO YOUR FIRST CRIT
ONE INTREPID MEMBER, ONE WORLDCLASS COACH, ONE INCREDIBLE BIKE-THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME.
